Friday, December 21, 2007

Okay. Did you get yet the full impact of the post-headline I just wrote?

There is a New Orleanian private security company that guards most of "Uptown and the Garden District", private homes and the stores and who is also involved in port related security. And the have a program of not hiring locals who "need" work, but hiring men from South America who want to travel to the United States on a 3 month work visa and training them on the job, for security positions. The same security contractor houses them and charges them rent.

Chile. Brazil. New Orleans security. Are these men technically 'mercenaries'?

Here's a brief synopsis of what happened on my brief walk to the corner store to get a sandwich:

I was walking around the corner to the corner store down the street from me. I saw a NOPP patrol car pulling away. I saw, in front of the newly renovated building a few buildings from mine, about 6 men who were new to the neighborhood - and I found, to this country. One of them was wearing a NOPP jacket. 5 of the men (who were very nice and very polite) were from Chile, one from Brazil. I welcomed them to the neighborhood and that is when they told me that they are just here for 3 months on a working visa, taking in 'the culture' and working 40 hours a week in security.

It seems there is a cottage industry of sorts for hiring 'out of country', mercenaries to do security in the US while they are here enjoying the culture!

Whoa. I don't know about you my dear readers, but many circuits in my brain were simultaneously firing and blowing. I couldn't comprehend how a local New Orleanian security company was hiring from Chile for security patrols in New Orleans and this same 'local' New Orleanian security company was not hiring New Orleanians only to fill its slots, a city where people need work. I am sure they will use the arguement that they "can't" find people who "want" to work. We all know what that means.

I heard it used today against the homeless. Someone from Unity from the Homeless told me that the people who were left in 'tent city' didn't want help. 10 minutes later I met a husband and wife pushing a shopping cart with all their belongings. They told me that they were told there was not housing for them or a room. They want housing, they want a warm room to put their belongings in and go to work from.

Also, I know a 'little bit' about Chile and I asked them - "You know with your own country's history with abuse by the military and the killing of it's citizens, I would think you would be really leery of hooking up with private "security" companies. Private security companies such as BlackWater are becoming as powerful as the military. And that can;t be good for this country. I said to them, "The next time there is a 'terrorist' incident on US soil, there is going to be a lot of 'security' happening in this country - and not for the 'safety' of it's citizens - but I am afraid security being used 'against' them."

"You guys know what I am talking about when it comes to abuses of political power, right?" "No," they collectively said to me, sincerely. I grappled in my mind for references to what I was speaking to. "Pinochet." I said. "Pinochet, he was Chilean right?" All agreed yes. "I remember," I said to them, he killed alot of people and abused power." "No, no they said to me." "Pinochet was good for the country. Pinochet was good."

Again circuits are blowing - firing - going crazy in my brain. I have conflicting thoughts and emotions occurring these men are very sincere and credible. Yet I am certain Pinochet was not 'good' for many people in Chile.

I told them that I wanted to come back and speak with them some more about the subject and would come and visit another day and said goodbye.

I had to walk away. My intuition was telling me that something was very wrong with hearing the words "Pinochet was good for Chile" and associating these words with men who are on US soil hired to do 'private security' in New Orleans - our "Bagdhad on the bayou".

Moments later I am ordering my sandwich and I say hello to the woman on my left and then the man on my right.

Oddly enough - (not really, in my 'reality') - my neighbor on the other side of the corner store about a block and a half from me, is from CHILE. What are the odds? I speak with him about what I just heard from the guys here doing security concerning Pinochet. He reels back, not believing I just heard what I did from fellow Chileans. He is a graduate student from Chile. He says his family was upper middle class and all for Pinochet very "right wing". His wife's family on the other hand suffered under Pinochet and were exiled to England. He confirms my thoughts that Pinochet did in fact "did murder" "alot of people".

And if I remember correctly as I am writing this, he "tortured them".

And again, if I remember correctly, we are connected in some way with this torture (there are protesters at the {?} School of the Americas {?} protesting our involvement with torture and military corruption in South America, in Virginia {I believe?}) and more is coming back to me as I write, I'm remembering "death squads".

My Chilean neighbor also appraised me of a fact that I did not know - that a very large proportion of "mercenaries" in Iraq are from Chile.

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TRUTH-FORCE ('SATYAGRAHA') AND THE FUTURE OF THE EARTH

The root meaning of 'Satyagraha', according to Mahatma Gandhi, was the force of truth or the soul-force that underlay the philosophy and practice of non-violent resistance. This force could move mountains and set men free.

Today, the challenges of life ask us to more firmly hold onto the force of truth within us so that we may stand aligned with the peoples of the world who are suffering, and with the earth itself that is in great need.

"WE ARE NOT OKAY"

NEW ORLEANS 2 YEARS LATER

A LONG WAY HOME - FIVE STORIES IN THE MIDST OF HUNDREDS OF ELDERLY RESIDENTS IN KATRINA-TORN NEW ORLEANSPHOTOGRAPHS AND AUDIO FROM GENARO MOLINA OF THE LA TIMES:Charles TaylorIn the Lower Ninth Ward, 81-year-old Charles Taylor has taken matters into his own hands and is rebuilding his home. After going through chemotherapy and radiation for stomach cancer in Mississippi, he felt well enough to make his way back to New Orleans to fix up his home. Narrated gallery

Joyce Boudousquie and Tommy Bilich Though some of the elderly are forced to go it alone, others have banded together. Joyce Boudousquie, 73, and Tommy Bilich, 75, struck up a friendship that Katrina could not tear apart. “Some neighbor of mine who is very close to me introduced me to Tommy and we became friends,” Joyce said.Narrated gallery

Joyce Simms Woods Joyce Simms Wood, 77, is surrounded by the few possessions that Hurricane Katrina did not steal from her. She’s been living in a FEMA trailer with dogs Ricky and Spreckles as her only companions, along with a TV that’s never turned off. “Everybody wants to go home, but I’m not home,” she said.Narrated gallery

Andrew Frick An ailing Andrew Frick, 84, bides his time in a FEMA trailer park while waiting for construction on his home in St. Bernard Parish to wrap up. Memories of his beloved wife, who passed away last year after 46 years of marriage, have sustained him through the rough patches.Narrated gallery

Juliette and John Allen Juliette Allen, 64, visits the area where her house once stood in the Lower Ninth, now a wide patch of dirt. She and husband John, 74, plan to return. Although they live in a small, roach-infested home in the Lower Garden District, Juliette counts her blessings to be in New Orleans. Narrated gallery

WANT TO DO SOMETHING TO HELP?

Each of the following ads seek much needed help and are not asking for a lot of commitment. A 'burst' of help is needed...

Desperately Seeking Donations

We are a community advocacy non-profit 501(c)3 agency assisting individuals with disabilities. We desperately need donations (cars...running, household items, or other things of value) to help fund our community-based program. Your donations will help individuals with disabilities find and develop income producing ventures to enhance their lives. Tax donation forms available.

Call Christopher or Sue at (504)366-8801.

BOOKS 2 PRISONERS NEEDS HELP MOVING/BUILDING

We are moving our program back to it's post K home.

We need help framing and hanging the walls, and them moving the stuff.

for more info go to http:// www.geocities.com/books2prisoners

Posted: December 27, 2007

HELP ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY THIS HOLIDAY...

...so I'm just a regular guy who heard a very sad thing on the radio. A soldier stationed in Baghdad said, "This is not America's war, this in only a soldiers war on TV some place far far away."

He's right. What sacrifices have I made...not many. Regardless of whether you agree or don't agree (and I don't, vehemently), the fact is those guys and gals are doing it and dying for it under the flag of our United States.

So this holiday season, my organization, Grass Matts, is going to find homes in New Orleans of active duty military personnel and go cut their grass, trim a hedge, or paint a mail box.

Whatever chore they may need for half a day or so. If anyone is interested in joining me to say thank you with deeds and not just words, please send me an email or give me a call.

FROM YOUR PLANETARY SISTER:Helping, I have found is not always about doing the big, grand things, often helping can be at it's most meaningful when we are helping another planetary brother and sister in meaningful ways for them. This could be something you can do, if you want to help, by setting the blog for Kamp Katrina and showing them how to upload future articles and pictures. Once it has been started and organized, MS Pearl could take it from there. Or, she could find someone else who would be willing to help in the next phase. Here's the thing I have found out about "helping" - it can feel like a small thing to you, whilst at the same time, feel like a very big thing to the recipient. PEACE.

NEW ORLEANS AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY SEEKS VOLUNTEERS!

Looking for a way to thank the thousands of volunteers from all over the world who have come to New Orleans to offer their support?New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity is seeking volunteers to help renovate Camp Hope, our volunteer housing in Saint Bernard. Help us make Camp Hope a comfortable, affordable, place to house our volunteers who have travelled from afar to help rebuild our city! For more information please contact Melissa Manuselis atvolunteer@habitat-nola.org.

Welcome...

This is a challenging blog to read... it is a difficult blog to write. The challenges and difficulties are even greater for those living the reality I that I document and photograph. After I have finished with a day of volunteering and photographing, I have the opportunity to walk away from the worst of the suffering. Not so for the families, the children, and the elderly, living in the toxic FEMA trailers, the abandoned houses, violence prone and devastated neighborhoods. Their suffering is ongoing and profound. I have never met stronger people of faith.

In our modern society I have noticed that many people spend an awful lot of time avoiding suffering and pain. That's what makes this blog so challenging to read and to "be with". I am sure there will be those who come to this site and wonder "why doesn't she post more positive things?" I am photographing and writing about the reality that I am witnessing and I understand that after a long day at work or trying to get through your own lives, how you would want to push the painful photo's and experiences I write about, away.

Here's the thing, if there weren't so many instances and experiences of suffering in New Orleans, I would have nothing to document or photograph. Yet there are far too many. And so, I write, I photograph, I pray, I cry, and I feel my profound helplessness as I witness the suffering and the hardships endured by local New Orleanians daily - many seeking to overcome (and overcoming) incredible difficulties and sufferation, whilst others succumb to fates of hopelessness, poverty, crime, and illiteracy.

This blog is my contribution to the beautiful people of New Orleans. When I have finished my work in New Orleans, I plan donate all the photo’s I have taken to an archive, as many of the photo‘s are anthropological in nature.

Everything on this site is meant to be shared, to inspire, and to help educate the millions in this country and elsewhere on this planet who believe that 2 years after Katrina and the levee breaks, that "everything must be okay now".

2 years after Katrina and the levee breaks, for thousands of New Orleanians, everything “is not okay“.

Volunteers are still needed. Especially people who can help rebuild. Even more so, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, counselors, and spiritual counselors who are willing to come down and volunteer. Your help is still needed. Your financial donations are needed. Your love is needed. Your prayers and blessings are needed.

Spread the word. Feel free to use anything on this website. All I ask is that you credit what you use to this web-site so that people will be able to read more about what I have witnessed occurring to thousands still suffering in New Orleans.

IRAQ IS OUR VIETNAM AND NEW ORLEANS IS OUR BIRMINGHAM

"This moment in history is our generation’s lunch-counter moment -Iraq is our Vietnam and New Orleans is our Birmingham. Our generation could be the generation to defeat racism, poverty and war, but only if we come together as people of conscience."

REBUILDING-DISASTER RESOURCES: NOLA

"Do you ever see the rainbow in the sky? Do the colors fight amongst themselves? Then why should mankind fight amongst themselves trough their different colors? The whole world is a garden and all the people in it are his flowers and we all beautify this garden with all our different colors. As the rainbow is in the heavens so are we, as rainbow people in his earth. Jah made all colors so all things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful he made them all. Each little flower that opens, and each little bird that sings he made their glowing colors and he made their tiny wings. So remember: What does it profit a man to gain the whole word and lose his soul."

PERSONAL "PLANETARY" RESONANCE

IN GRATITUDE...

To the Volunteers - Who responded with love and kindness. Most of all, to those who came and gutted out the houses - a toxic job and a special job - as your work involved the 'gutting out' of lives, histories, and heritiages. Your work was so important in the first phase of the ongoing healing process. It is the volunteers - past, present, and future, who are an essential key to the rebuilding of trust and hope... by your very presence. Thank you.

To the People of the Heart - Thank you for trusting me and allowing me into your lives to share your pain with you. Most of all, for your smiles and waves as I drive through your communities, and a gratitude which is expressed in your hugs and words of love and blessings. To be seen with love through your eyes is to "be seen". I am humbled by your strength, courage, and dignity.

On Suffering and Compassion:

"The experience of woundedness has been a part of the history of souls on earth. The experience of wholeness is the 'new' history, whose pages are beginning to be written."
Julie Redstonewww.LightOmega.org